Things-do: Repeat in T-C

For Teri Chan, playing tennis is like riding a bike. Since playing her last match for the Bradley women's tennis team in 2007, Chan has spent most of her time away from the tennis courts.

Josh Wessler

For Teri Chan, playing tennis is like riding a bike.

Since playing her last match for the Bradley women's tennis team in 2007, Chan has spent most of her time away from the tennis courts.

Despite her time away, Chan's game did not show any signs of rust this past week at the 40th Tri-County Tennis Tournament.

Facing top-seeded Susie Sorenson in Saturday's Women's Open singles final, Chan won her second straight title by beating Sorenson 6-4, 6-4 on the hard courts at Glen Oak Park.

"It wasn't easy," said Chan, who holds the record for most career singles victories at Bradley with 73.

"I had a tough match in all of my rounds. And now that I'm working full-time and I'm not in school anymore, I don't have as much time to work out and condition and stuff like that.

"I probably hit once a week or once every other week. It's hard to find time with work and planning my wedding and everything."

The top-seeded Sorenson, who took Chan to three sets in last year's division semifinal round, came into this year's rematch with a focus on controlling the play at the net.

And while she was able to put herself in good position through most of the match, a lack of shot execution on key points eventually doomed Sorenson.

"I wanted to hit it deep to her forehand and get in to the net. I was actually able to do that pretty well, but I was missing my net shots," Sorenson said. "I set up everything the way I wanted to, but I just wasn't executing."

After taking the first set, Chan rallied to take a 5-0 lead in the second.

Sorenson was determined not go down easy, though. She fought off several match points to pull it to 5-4 before Chan was able to seal the victory.

"I wasn't going to let her just have it," Sorenson said. "I got off to a bad start in the second set, so then I just decided that I was going to fight for everything. If I'm not playing the way I want to play, I'm going to keep fighting."

"It's a little bit of my strategy to match the level of my game with my opponent," Chan said. "In the second set, she started coming up to the net a lot and with her height advantage and her strong volleys. She definitely made it a tough match. I had to readjust. It took me a little bit longer in the second set to get there but, sure enough, when the time came and I had the right shots."

FINAL FINALS: Jordan Nestrud will make his bid for a third consecutive Men's Open singles title today when he faces second-seeded Jason Zumwalt in the division final at 11 a.m. If the top-seeded Nestrud is successful, he will become the fifth player to achieve a three-peat in the division. ... Matt Maris and Steve McRaven will try to defend their title in Men's Open doubles today when they face the third-seeded duo of Brad Cook and Mario Palmieri in the division final at 3:30 p.m. If the reigning champs can hold their top seed and emerge as the victors, it will be the pair's third championship effort in the nine-year history of the division.

Josh Wessler can be reached at 686-3214 or jwessler@pjstar.com

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